Modern videogames have become increasingly complex, and so too have the controllers used to play them. Videogame controllers often include a plurality of buttons, paddles, thumb-sticks, joysticks, wheels, pads, triggers and/or dials (collectively referred to herein as “controls”) that may be pressed, pulled, turned or otherwise maneuvered by a user to activate various functions within the videogame being played. As the controls are maneuvered, electrical signals are generated by the controller circuitry and transmitted to the gaming console (e.g., Microsoft Xbox 360®, Sony PS4®, Nintendo Wii®, and/or any other computing device, etc.). The console interprets the signals and effectuates the operations or functionality within the videogame that correspond to the control(s) that were pressed by the user.
Some controls are configured to generate signals in accordance with a step-function (i.e., a binary approach), while others generate a signal in accordance with a gradient (i.e., a continuous approach). For example, buttons generally generate signals in accordance with an on-off or step-function approach (e.g., signal output when pressed “on” and no signal output when “off”). Triggers and joysticks, on the other hand, often generate signals in accordance with a gradient so that the signal strength gradually increases as the trigger is gradually pulled/pushed further in a given direction by the user (e.g., signal output strength/amplitude gradually increasing from 0% to 100% (of peak output) as the trigger is pulled from 0% (un-pulled) to 100% (fully-pulled)). The signal gradient can track trigger pull in accordance with a linear, nonlinear, exponential, or any other relationship. The way the signal output changes as the trigger is pulled back by a user will often be referred to herein as the “mapping scheme” or “mapping profile.”
The signal gradient provided by gaming triggers and/or joysticks finds its use in functionality that calls for change by degrees, or gradual ascents/descents of given functionality within the game. For instance, in a car racing videogame the triggers may be used to control the “throttle” of the car being driven by the player. Thus, instead of only having the option to fully activate or fully deactivate the throttle (as would be the case if a button were to be used for this functionality instead of a trigger), a user may make finer adjustments to the throttle by pulling the trigger back to a greater or lesser degree, and thereby change the car's speed/acceleration to a greater or lesser degree, as desired.
In some instances, however, triggers and/or joysticks are mapped to functions within the game that don't necessarily call for a signal gradient. For instance, often times in combat games the trigger of the controller is used as the trigger of the weapon the player is using in the game. So, for example, although a gradually increasing signal may be generated as the trigger is pulled further back by the user, the weapon does not actually fire until the signal reaches a certain level (i.e., the trigger is pulled back to or beyond a threshold distance, e.g., 90% of the travel path distance); thus, the user's pull of the trigger up to that point doesn't activate any gaming functionality. Because of extra time that is wasted in pulling the trigger all the way back to the threshold point each time weapon activation is desired, competitive gamers have expressed frustration that the time cost undermines their performance.
Though it is noteworthy that in some instances the trigger may not actually need to be pulled all the way back to activate the function desired (e.g., in games where the weapon fires as soon as the trigger signal reaches a certain activation threshold that is something less than 100% signal output, for instance, if signal strength≥60% maximum signal strength, the weapon fires), it is nevertheless a user's natural inclination to pull the trigger all the way back (i.e., until it stops or cannot be pulled any further) before releasing it. This is because the activation threshold may be different among some videogames, and because without haptic feedback of some sort it is very difficult for a user to determine how far back he/she has pulled the trigger at any given instant during a fast-paced game. As noted, the time it takes to pull the trigger all the way back to activate a weapon is often considered wasted time by many gamers, and such time costs can undermine performance in games where response time is crucial. Thus, competitive gamers have expressed an interest in “hair-trigger” type functionality for triggers used in such fast-paced and response-time intensive games. To meet this need, two basic solutions have emerged.
One solution is a trigger-button swap. That is, the triggers on the gaming controllers are replaced with simple buttons, thereby foregoing the gradient styled mapping profile in favor of a button that need only be clicked by the tap of a finger in order to generate a signal at full strength (i.e., in a step-function manner). While this reduces the overall time required to fire the weapon by reducing the distance the user must press or pull the control for full activation (this distance also referred to herein as the “travel path” or “path of travel”), it nevertheless comes with many disadvantages. One disadvantage of this approach is that it eliminates the gradient feature that is often desirable in other games (e.g., for racing games).
Another solution that has emerged is the use of a trigger-stop. A trigger-stop is a mechanical device, often a screw or pin, that is placed within the travel path of the trigger such that the trigger is stopped at some point before it reaches the end of the original travel path as it is being pulled. This reduces the trigger's travel path (and thereby the time it takes to operate the trigger), but also comes with several drawbacks. One drawback is that the trigger may sometimes fail to fire the weapon (or activate other functionality it is mapped to) because the signal generated by the trigger is diminished and may not be adequate to activate the functionality of a particular game. For example, assuming a linear mapping profile, if a trigger-stop was used to limit a trigger so that it could only be pulled back to 50% of the original travel path (such that a signal of only 50% the maximum strength is produced—e.g., 0.5 mV if the max strength is 1.0 mV), but the videogame being played was programmed to fire the weapon only when the signal rose above 0.9 mV (i.e., signal strength>90% of the max signal in the above example), then the trigger-stop would prevent the user from firing his/her weapon even if pulled all the way to the trigger-stop. So the controller may work for some games, but not for others.